probably come to a place in our lives where we're faced with a moment where are you going to follow your conscience or not? and i knew it was not going to be popular. i knew what the polls said that day, that 70% of the american public was against the war. you had "the new york times" pushing the war, the editor endorsing the war. even al franken, my good friend, all supported the war. so i really was out on a limb, those that were there with me knew what it felt like. it was not good. and what i've been thinking this week about this is the lesson from this, when the attempt to do this again, whether it is with iran or whatever, just anybody who is listening to this. just don't be afraid. if you think you're right, and you are following your conscience and you know you're right, stand up and say it. and yes you will be alone for a

while. but eventually truth will come out. and you will be remembered for being on the right side. it is just that hard place at the beginning. and so if they attempt to do that with iran, that is my position from now on always is, that whatever they're telling me i'm just going to assume it is not true. and they have to prove it to me, as opposed to the other way around, where the press was oh, yeah, whatever they say is true. and maybe some of us will find out some of it is not true later. well, we have lost too many lives as a result of how the media handled that. >> that is called being skeptical, it is healthy, the size of the things they are size to portray is directly in response to the size of what they're trying to sell. i know you took a hit for a long time for doing it. and congratulations on everything since then. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you rachel, and thank you for your documentary this week. god bless you. >> god bless you back, all right, that does it for us tonight. thank you for joining us on a friday night. "weekends with alex witt" starts now.

six days and counting, sextise seeking the truth on the massive budget cuts set to take place in less than a week. what does a butcher shop have to do with impending budget cuss? brace yourself, again. parts of the northeast will get hit by a snowstorm. oscar predictions. who will get the biggest awards? one expert will tell you. let's get to what's happening out there. president obama taking aim at congressional republicans with six days until the painful, across the board budget cuts if no deal can be made. >> are republicans letting cuts to fall on our kids' schools and mental health care to protect corporate loopholes. are they willing to slash military health care and border patrol because they refuse to

eliminate tax breaks for big oil companies. are they seriously prepared to inflict more pain on the middle class because they refuse to ask anything more of those at the very top? >> republicans are putting the blame squarely on president obama. this week's republican address. >> republicans in congress right now will provide the flexibility to make the necessary spending reductions and address our deficit and debt instead of going through the sequester. in fact, house republicans have already passed two bills to replace the president's sequester. so the question is, why won't he work with us? the answer quite simply is because he wants higher taxes. >> joining me now, white house correspondent for the hill, amie parnes and ed o'keefe. >> good morning. >> we are so close to the sequester. give us your assessment.

is this a foregone conclusion? >> the chances of a deal are pretty small. the stakes aren't so high in this particular showdown. we're talking about a lot of jobs and a lot of money obviously, but i think that, you know, these are reversible, they can -- congress and the white house can ooengtally come together in the coming weeks and work together on this as they are trying to strike a deal on the deficit. i would say look for that to happen more than something to happen this week. >> ed, we look at today's "washington post" george will sequesters the is he quester is manufactured. sensible americans tuckered out with the populist fatigue are yawning through the catastrophe du jour, the sequester. how much of it is manufactured? and even if it is, won't regular americans feel it? >> the white house is doing their best to remind americans how they might feel it.

we saw that happen last week, the real-world effects that could occur, things like fewer air traffic controllers, the national parks have to shut down visitor centers and other agency having to furlough workers and reaches across basic government services. we'll have to wait and see come tuesday, wednesday, thursday, get a sense of the country is that concerned or if they are sitting this here and saying, gosh, seeing this song and dance before. government shutdown in april 2011, the debt ceiling showdown that summer, the fiscal cliff on new year's eve, and this -- i think -- and there will be another fight over government spending by the end of march. we have been seeing this for two years and maybe george will is right. most people saying, gosh, they are sorting it out and we'll ride it out. >> people need to understand that it is going to hit them in

a really palpable way, i am looking at other departments. a nationwide shutdown of meat and poultry plants. furloughs, inspection personnel. will be pay higher prices? less beef and chicken? will it be safe? part of that is what the sequester is. you look at the latest pew poll, the public wide until favor of the president's approach on the sequester. on the other side, republicans, some tea partiers feel beholden to local constituents to not raise taxes another dime. does neither party have the incentive to resolve this quite quickly? >> that's a tough one, alex. the president and white house are counting on fact that they do have public support behind them. they say they don't look at polls, but they clearly do. they feel good about public support and counting on that. part of the messaging tact and president obama, you will see

him taking his message across the country in the coming days to sort of explain to the american people what is at stake here. >> but if a deal is finally reached, ed, where does the compromise lie? both sides seem to have dug in their heels. is it the president who gives in on tax increases by cutting loopholes? will they agree to cut some of the loopholes? >> there are proposals on the table, very unclear. in principle, washington doesn't mind strog find a way to cut spending to help pay off the debt, but there are those who want to raise taxes and closest personally now those loopholes and republicans have put forth plans, and i think we're looking at sadly is potentially another extension -- another -- you use the phrase, kicking the can down the road to give folks more time to think this out. it is incredible that we're

still sitting here watching this play out. but there is no sense -- you know, at this hour. come monday, tuesday, when lawmakers come back to town, they will meet with each other, sort something out. but nobody is moving and it's unclear where people will be willing to give. >> the president is criticized for not reaching out on capitol hill, particularly for republicans. he made two calls to house speaker john boehner. who did that yield? >> that's a little bit of posturing. they want to show that they are kind of talking to republicans, being criticized constantly for not talking to republicans, the message is to take it directly to the people. they don't want to sit down and negotiate with congress, even though they say they do. they want to take people and explain in the last budget fights, felt that was a victory for them and successful, and you will see that again this time, alex. >> ed, give me a prediction, how will it go down over the next six days? >> what we're looking at more

likely is that they won't necessarily sort this out by the end of this coming week, but instead will wait and ramp it into having to do another short-term extension of the current spending levels and continuing resolution which expires at the end of march. some people are going to say, look, furloughs that may or may not come would not start for 30 days. march 27th, end of the c.r., only 27 days. get something done by then, potentially furloughs wouldn't ever actually begin and they would extend everything and avoid this. but i think there actually is some -- even some can see this actually start and get a sense of where there is potential effects and if the country starts to feel it. it appears to be drastic and the market reacts drastically, they will come to a reaction sooner. they have the march 27th deadline. what is to say they won't use

that to sort this out and extend spending levels through the end of the fiscal year. >> interesting the next couple of weeks, that's for sure. >> keeps us busy. thank you. >> ahead, democratic congressman john yarmouth on how his district might be affected. a new winter warning for the northeast. the third straight weekend of snow for the region. dylan dr efrpeyer with the fore. >> another storm system making its way to new england. it doesn't look like it will pack as much of a punch as initially thought. temperatures in the boston area are running above freezing. 36 degrees in new york some of that rain is actually going to prevent a whole lot of snowfall accumulation. you can see where the rain is. sitting down across the southeast and several inches of rain are possible in the area. moisture streaming from the gulf

of mexico will eventually turn colder in new england. but it will be mostly interior new england that will see the majority of the snowfall, but, still, only 3 to 6 inches possible. heavy rain falling across atlanta. thunderstorms moving to alabama and northern florida, and we are seeing heavy rain into the carolinas and virginia as well. here is an estimate of snowfall over the next 2 4 8 hours, over the course of today, especially tonight and on sunday, but still only about 3 to 6 inches and elsewhere across coastal massachusetts, about one to three inches of snow. dry in kansas city today, high of 32 degrees. another big storm is making its way into the pacific northwest that will start to spread eastward and by early next week, there is the chance the midwest could pick up 6 to 12 inches of snow on top of the big storm they had last week. >> they sure don't need that. yikes. the company says only a small number of microsoft

computers were infected with malware and no customer data has been affected. these hacks are similar to the ones reported by facebook and apple. >> less than a week until pope benedict 16 steps down. those who will choose the next pope are coming under scrutiny. we have the unfolding drama from anne thompson in rome. >> reporter: good morning, alex. pope benedict is back at work and appointed new bishops for mexico and at the valt ctican, are readying for huge crowds for final public events. in the meantime, many unanswered questions about the historic transition, such as who will lead the church? a week before pope benedict retires and there is still no clear front-runner to can you seed him. however, there is a long shot. new york's greg farruous

cardinal timothy dolan. >> i will get anything to get you guys to church. >> reporter: praise in catholic circles to his perno apersona ad h h fightback on the obama plan for contracepti contraception. >> he's a known quantity and man of integrity. known as someone who can communicate the catholic faith positively. >> reporter: here in rome, another cardinal, roger mahoney, retired archbishop of los angeles is under fire for his role for moving and shielding priests. mahoney faces his own deposition after which he will come to the vatican to come for the new

pope. this week an italian cardinal told a local newspaper that mahoney should stay home. some american catholics should agree. >> reporter: all cardinals should be held to the highest standard. anyone whose hands are tainted should refrain from voting. >> reporter: cardinals from other countries are also mired in scandal. all cardinals under the age of 80 must vote unless they are seriously ill or prevented from traveling. one fun fact. on february 28, when pope benedict officially retires. they will take away his ring, the symbol of his authority and destroy it. he will also lose his twitter. i'm anne thompson in rome, back to you. alex. are americans suffering apocalypse fatigue? and the oscar pistorius odyssey. how did he get out of jail?

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part of what keeps us from gaining more momentum is that the sense of uncertainty that hangs like this overcast sky over our whole economy. >> colorado governor john hickenlooper, one of the governors who met with the president on friday about the potential impact that the sequester would have on state economies. let's go to kristen welker. what are they doing to keep the sequester from taking affect?

>> president obama will have conversations with congress this weekend and into next week. so far, talks have yielded no results. both sides are dug in, and it seems increasingly likely that the sequester will go into effect. in his weekly address today, president obama said it's up to congress to act. >> i never think anything is inevitable, we have the opportunity to make the right decisions. my hope is we can see a different course taken by congress. this should be a no-brainer. >> in an effort to pressure congress, the obama administration has also been painting a fairly dire picture of what will happen if the sequester kicks in and on friday outgoing transportation secretary ray lahood says it will have a big impact on the air travel industry. as many as 47,000 employees could be furloughed and that could ultimately wind up showing

air traffic control and air travel. take a listen. >> travelers should expect delays. flights to major cities like new york, chicago, and san francisco and others could experience delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours. because we have sfuer contr efe controllers on strap. >> reporter: the administration has also warned 800,000 civilian defense department workers would be furloughed. 10,000 teachers and educators could be laid off and some border patrol agents would see a decrease in hours. late friday, alex, representative from house speaker john boehner's office sent me a statement saying "the president has been far more interested in holding campaign style rallies than urging his party in the senate to find a solution. i can tell you, alex, the sticking points are familiar ones, president obama wants to see new tax revenue.

ry public i had cans think this should be worked out through entitlement reform and spending cuts. really no resolution in sight. i have been talking to folks on both sides of pennsylvania avenue and they are increasingly pessimistic that there will be a resolution within six days remaining. alex. >> kristen, i'm looking at a rundown of department by department on how cuts will affect staffing. it's extraordinary. i think people will be quite surprised. we'll see what everyone feels like friday if they are not able to put this deal together. >> thanks, alex. how the rich are getting big stuff for free. in hollywood, one freebie not as big as it used to be. [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat.

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let's go to our thinking big money headlines. consumer expert regina lewis joins us, leek let's talk abo y payroll taxes. >> there was a two-year tax holiday. 2%. it sounds like a small number until you start to play that out. if you make $30,000 a year. that is 50 buck as a month. that might mean you go out to eat one less time. 100,000 a year, that's 167,000 per month. over the course of a couple of months, you may forgo that piece of person toure. walmart is saying it's having an effect on consumer spending. >> all of us, even just myself,

cutting back. you feeling it in your paychecks. what about the gas pumps? no happy camp pers. >> this is a double whammy. gas prices up 45 cents on average since january. that is a lot. and it may get worse from here. the real crunch point where everyone notices $4. not since july 2008 have we seen an average of 4.11. but because this rampup is so early, we really could be headed there. there is something called the summer blend of fuel, which is more expensive. those do with all of the regulations to not contribute to smog, evaporates a little bit less, and that hasn't even rotated into the cycle yet. probably going up from here. >> oh, great. what about the oscar swag a little bit less. >> a value of $47,000.

fairly standard practice aaward show. a sampling program. if you want to reach innfluences and you want to reach an audience, you want to sample this crowd. down every year in value since 2010. big trips. in 2010, they offered a safari, apparently only robert downey jr. booked that. nobody took them up on it, but it did increase the value of the package. >> any trips this time? or is that cut out? >> always trips, but not as premium as a safari to africa. >> cool stuff, nonetheless. regina lewis, thank you very much. are you spending less because of the payroll tax hike? i already admitted i am. i will read your tweets throughout the day. in today's one-minute playback, mrs. obama did a dance

coming on the set to talk to jimmy, talked about date night with the president and her famous bangs. >> you don't have much time for tv. how do you have time for personal stuff? how about dates? >> we try to do date nights. it's a little tough. barack has a 20-car motorcade. men with guns, the ambulance is always there. how romantic can you be? >> ambulance pulling up. >> he's like we're going to go out on a romantic dinner. i'm like is the ambulance coming? it's over. >> biggest story of 2013 has to be your hair style. >> yeah. >> this is the biggest -- did you know this was going that be that big news? >> i tell you, no. i thought maybe a story, but i didn't think we'd still be talking about it. >> it looks gorgeous.

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he doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i was teaching a martial arts class and it hit me. we get to the emergency room... and then...and then they just wheeled him away. i had to come to that realization that "wow, i am having a heart attack." i can't punch this away. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to you doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and nowadays i don't have that fear. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook.

welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." your fast five headlines. u.s. troops in nyjer will set up unarmed drones to help france in their fight in mali. and south korea is asking north korea to stop tests, calling it hostility. moody's is downgrading. and a man freed after dna proved his innocence. and rosa parks' statue has arrived at the capitol. it will be unveiled next week. in south africa, oscar pistorius is a free man, at least for now. we're showing you video of

pistorius entering court a couple of hours before he was granted bail in the case of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. let's go to michelle kosinkski. he's out on bail. what comes next for him? >> reporter: he went to his uncle's house with his family after being released on bail. he can't go back to his own home, the scene of the alleged crime. he has to surrender passports, guns, can't use drugs or alcohol. has to get permission to leave town and check in with police twice a week starting monday. he may actually start training again on monday, even though his agent had canceled all of his upcoming races, but his coach told us he thinks training is the best thing right now to clear his mind. when asked whether training isn't the last thing on pistorius' mind after losing his girlfriend, the coach didn't comment. yesterday as that ruling was read, pistorius sobbed, his body

shaking. the judge said that he had problems with pistorius' account of the morning that reeva steenkamp was killed. why did he run swu tinto the da that he claimed was so terrifying? why didn't he asked who was in there before firing into the bathroom? why didn't question searching for his girlfriend not in the bed? he said pistorius isn't a danger and likely won't run from justice. his next court appearance since until june. >> until june, he must have restrictions, rules he must abide by. what are those? >> he has this time on his hands. there are more specifics, like he can't go toon airport, it has to do with travel and he had to surrender. traffic is difficult. getting permission every time he wants to leave his hometown of pretoria here. other than that, he can go about

living his life. his coach, like said, even talking about training immediately, so he won't have any imminent races. i mean, his schedule before this happened had him racing on four continents within the next to you months. that's gone now, sponsors as well suspend their contracts or sponsorship with hip. but he will be able to work out, stay healthy, visit with his family and friends if out to dinner, he'll likely be seen around town if that's what he chooses to do. but we know photographers are already camped out outside this house where he went yesterday, alex. >> okay. michelle kosinkski, thank you. let's go to politics now. more warnings about the long dreaded sequester this one possibly causing a shortage of meats, because the agriculture might be forced to furlough meat inspectors up to 15 days. >> they cut us back 15 days straight which we can't do that, which i highly doubt that will ever happen, but, yeah, it would

definitely affect things. >> the feds project a sequester could shut down poultry and meat plants nationwide. a 5% budget cut will shorten visiting hours at national parks and make some areas completely off-limits to visitors. in his new weekly address, the president doubled down on blaming the sequester on republicans in congress. >> these cuts don't have to happen. congress can turn them off any time with just a little compromise. unfortunately, it appears that republicans in congress have appeared instead of compromising, instead of asking anything of the wealthiest americans, they would rather let cuts fall squarely on the middle class. >> john yarmuth joins us now. good to see you. >> good to see you, alex. >> six days to go. what do you think?

will we go through the sequester or will a deal be made? >> i don't think a deal will be made. some kind of delay tactic will probably be made. ed o'keefe in the hour had it right. the real deadline, march 27th. because we run out of money, funding authority anyway. we have to come to some kind of agreement on how to fund the government between the end of the month and the end of the fiscal year, september 2 3 0th. so friday is kind of an artificial deadline that really doesn't mean much, but, you know, the president had it wrong a little bit. getting a bit off message here, i don't think the choices between taxing the rich and the -- and cutting vital services, i think the choice is not doing something that's really stupid and that is to make these across the board cuts. the whole idea behind the sequester was to -- to force people to come to agreement on deficit reduction by providing an alternative that was so dreadful that nobody wanted it.

that's what this is. we don't have to go through the dreadful cuts, we can just say no, we're not going to do this. it's wrong for the country. that's what we should do. >> i want to ask you about an article in "the washington post." to all of you on capitol hill, as you are facing this deadline, do you really look at that as that being the date. not really concerned with march 1st? you said it's somewhat an artificial date. doing your negotiating, trying to figure outcome on mize, are you working on the premise of march 27th? >> i wish i knew, because we have only been in session 12 days this entire year which is absolutely shameful. we haven't had a lot of time to talk to our colleagues. remember, the original sequester was scheduled to go in effect on january 1st. as part of that fiscal cliff deal, we delayed it for two months, we could delay it again until march 27th, because again, as has been mentioned, that's

what we have to decide how much we're going to spend for the rest of the year. and there is no point in going through the charade for 26 or 27 days when we have to make the same decision a few weeks later. >> so the genesis of all this, bob woodward has this through piece in "the washington post," he writes then omb director jack liu and ron nabors came up with the sequester. he has the exact time and date they pitched it to harry reid. 2:30 on july 27, 2011. is the president guilty of not letting the facts get in the way of a good talking point against the republicans? >> well, again, i know in that particular instance, trying to resolve a crisis on whether to raise the debt ceiling and default our debt, he suggested that as an alternative. the republican has it in the cut, cap and balance plan months

before that and remember in the house anyway. 170-something republicans provided more votes for the sequester idea than democrats did. i voted against it. knew it was a bad idea. but i think both sides were equally culpable in doing something that was absolutely nonsensical and we should do now is just admit what we did was silly. >> i would like you to listen to your democratic colleague, debbie wasserman schultz on our air yesterday. >> do republicans consider the sequester leverage. the looming shutdown leverage so they can get the spending cuts they want and protect the tax breaks they have been trying to protect for the wealthiest americans. >> do the democrats and president not also consider this leverage, the leverage to raise taxes? >> well, i don't look at it that way. think debbie is right, some republicans think it's leverage, but republicans don't want

dramatic cuts on defense spending. i don't think they want what they have in front of us either, both of us are using it for political leverage to battle the other side. that won't solve the problem. >> i can ask you about the buzz of ashley judd running for senate. >> of course. >> she met with some pretty big democratic donors in the state. does she have what it takes to beat senator mitch mcconnell, the senate minority leader? >> absolutely. there is virtually no excitement at all about re-electing mitch mcconnell in the state. a state-wide poll recently shows 75% of kentuckians, 35% of republicans will definitely vote to re-elect him. plenty of energy to retire him after five terms and nobody i think could capture that energy better than somebody like ashley judd who has enormous star power, beloved in the commonwealth, eight generations her family has been in the state. university of kentucky's number

one fan, and also she's a very, very smart woman who is very active in political issues, she's got a master's in public policy from harvard. she's very, very engaged, and i think she would be a terrific candidate. >> wow. the master's in public policy from harvard gives her some cred right there. >> good to see you, alex, thank you. in this week's office politics, david denkins. we talk about his hard-fought race for mayor in 1989. i start by asking about his concern for the level of debt-ridden economy many. >> i'm very concerned. we are the greatest nation in the world. we have got enormous assets and

a lot of good people, yet we have this tremendous difficulty. the money we spend in wars, at least one of which we should not ever have been in. and i am a product of world war ii. i was in the united states marine corps in 1945 and a proud recipient of a gold medal i thought the way to survive was to be well trained, and the way to be retrained was to be a marine. i didn't know anything about the navy s.e.a.l.s or the army rangers. they may not have even had them in that day. i knew about the marine corps and in my up forniform, i lookee a boy scout. one of the smartest things i have ever done. >> you talk about the expense of war, having been in the shoes of

somebody serving our country. once you're in it, you've got to spend it. >> oh, i don't disagree with that. the problem is, in some instances we shouldn't have been. colin powell made that statement of weapons of mass destruction, which was inaccurate. not so. he was operating under the information given him. who knows? we might have been there had it not been for that. >> to what do you attribute this hyper partisanship these days? >> i done know. >> always been that way? >> i don't think so. i don't know whether it was lyndon johnson. somebody years ago said we can disagree without being disagreeable. and -- >> john mccain said that. >> he's a hero. >> um-hum. >> he's a hero. i don't know why some of our

elected officials behavi s behay do. it's rather sad frankly. >> that's on a federal lev. look at the city you ran, the largest city in the nation. what was the tenor of partisanship at that point? >> well, it was great. but when the battle was over, you sort of put away the weapons and -- and, you know, the pitchforks and got out the shovels or something. it -- it was different. it was a hard-fought battle, but i am -- i emerged with better than 50% of the vote in the primary, then i faced rudy, and he is not yet america's mayor. 9/11 has not yet occurred. >> and what is it that put you

over the steps. >> and the democrats, and it was 5-6-1. >> you are mayor in this city. in your tenure, all republicans. >> part of the is, my friend mike in the last election, spent well over 1$100 million. >> more of our conversation at 12:00 noon. and we'll talk about what he thinks is the root cause behind president obama's detractors. picking the winners. one expert's prediction. get out your ballots, next. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health

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touch weekly" to tell us who has the best shot at oscar gold. right to it. a lot of solid movies. best picture, what do you have there? >> i think this is "argo." everyone by now knows the story. it didn't look like "argo" was going to win. ben affleck snubbed for best director nomination. you usually don't get the win for best picture if there is no best director nomination. things have completely changed since the nomination. they won the golden globe, screen actors gild. directors gild. it's a great movie. critics like it, crowds like it. and hollywood ending, hollywood saves the day and the ben affleck angle too, and that story, a hollywood story as well. i love this. >> a good story. what about best director. who gets that? >> this one, nobody really

knows. looks right now like maybe steven spielberg or ang lee for "life of pi." he did such a great job with this amazing, beautiful story. >> a tough book definitely to turn into a movie. what about best actor? >> daniel day-lewis. i don't think there is any question about this. >> we can just move on to best actress. >> exactly. this would be his third win as best actor, which doesn't happen it would be an amazing feat for him. >> best actress? >> a tough one. i think jennifer lawrence for "silver linings playbook." such a great film. four actress nominations. but jennifer lawrence has momentum. so versatile. you know her from "the hunger games." such a great job. jessica chastain andemanuel rev.

she won the baptist. i really think this is jennifer lawrence's award to win. >> supporting actress? >> another one like daniel day-lewis. anne hathaway. she's just won every single award. if you saw "les mis" you watched her on screen. >> you cried when she was singing. i did. how about supporting actor? >> this is the one race you probably don't want to bet money on because this is the one that really nobody knows. right now, it looks like the momentum is towards robert de niro for "silver linings playbook." he's so great in this. he has not won an oscar since "raging bull." it's been over 30 years since he's won't an oscar. tommy lee jones in "lincoln" was great. and kristof walsh has won the golden globe. alan arkin, there's that upswing

towards "argo." but i think it's robert de niro. >> i checked off my ballot like you told me. thank you very much, kim serrefine. how will be play in the latest fiscal crisis? coming up next. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you.

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six days until the sequester. the latest poll numbers show the majority of americans want to postpone the massive federal budget cuts to allow the economy to keep recovering. joining me now nbc political deputy editor alec demonte. 54% in favor of postpones the requester. 40% say go through with it. how much is public sentiment swaying this debate in washington? >> i don't know if it's swaying it very much. if you look at house republicans, they're dug in on this. they don't want to add any

revenue on what they feel like they've compromised on with allowing taxes to go up during the fiscal cliff debate. they have to look out for the primaries. they feel like they're going to give more revenue then they're potentially vulnerable to a primary challenge. >> you know the ideology that people don't want to touch entitlements at all. in fact, the majority of people feel overhauling social security and med case, that's necessary to try to reduce the deficit. what are the chances of any of that happening in a substantial way? >> you know, i think it's something that a lot of folks have talked about. republicans have certainly would like have liked president obama to put on the table specific cuts to med fair or social security. chained cpi as something he'd like to do or possibly be open to doing. but neither side wants to put much on the table for medicare

specifically for fear of 0 goin. that needs to be addressed. but when you look at what it means in real life. this is a lot of people who have paid into the system who feel like they haven't gotten a break their entire lives. they're not getting any loopholes. >> they want what is due for them? >> right. and this is the one thing they've paid into their entire lives and if they're going to retire after a long time at work, they want this to be available for them. >> can i ask you quick about approval ratings. because the press has got a 51 approval rating in the latest "usa today"/pew poll. but democrats, 55%, yikes. >> republican, still the brand is not very good. that is part of why president obama is trying to play the pr battle to make sure he wins this

public relations battle going forward. >> domenico mont narrow in washington, thank you very much. up next, we've got chris hayes. he's ready to go on"up." [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions